


5 Times Reggie's Hair Magically Changes Colour and One Time It Doesn't

by chaoslaura



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M, No beta we die like Sunset Curve, Rating for Language, Reggie's hair colour changes with his emotions, metamorphmagus!Reggie, talk about a deceased pet, you can read it without Harry Potter knowledge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29204775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoslaura/pseuds/chaoslaura
Summary: Reggie is an metamorphmagus which means he can change his appearance at will. Except for his hair, which does what it wants on his own and changes his colour whenever Reggie experiences strong emotions.orLuke carded a hand through Reggie’s hair, rearranging his fringe “Your hair is turning rosy.”And, yeah, Reggie always forgot he would do that. Or that his hair would do that. Showcasing his emotion unwillingly to the world without him noticing. Reggie, ashamed now, let out a whine and let his head fall against Luke’s collarbone, now there was no way he could hide that. He should’ve brought his beanie with him.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 157
Collections: Julie and the Phantoms Bingo Challenge





	5 Times Reggie's Hair Magically Changes Colour and One Time It Doesn't

**Author's Note:**

> On tumblr I saw [this picture](https://kidovna.tumblr.com/post/641491639599316992/some-metamorphmagus-hufflepuff-reggies-whose-hair) and knew immediately that I had to write for it and so I did. Check her blog out, she has amazing drawings. 
> 
> Except for Alex I didn't assign them to any houses because it wasn't needed for the story and even though I knew where I would put them there are many opinions out there on this so read it as you want. 
> 
> Harry Potter way my childhood but I didn't read the books or watched the movies in a while and needed to google so many things it was honestly embarrassing, so if there are any mistakes in here (also spelling mistakes) I'm sorry.
> 
> But I hope you will enjoy reading this though, it was so much fun to write.

**one.**

Technically it was time for studying. Their classes were over for today and the three of them met again in the study hall, last seeing each other at lunch and Reggie was a bit desperate to get a hug from his boyfriend after having to face their mean teacher in Arithmancy. Reggie liked the class, intentionally choosing it for his elective but he could swear the teacher held a personal vendetta against him. And now he was in need for some comfort.

Digressing from his plan he found himself half in Luke’s lap instead. Laying in his arms that were strongly wind around him, holding him close against his chest, Reggie was content with life, completely forgotten about his irritation from before.

Time would pass around them, people moving around, parchment rustled, and quills scratched against the material while students did their homework. The fire was crackling, and the warmth spread through the room, a cozy feeling stretching around them and putting them in their own little bubble.

Alex was sitting next to them on the bench, the only one with a concentrated look on his face with his eyebrows pinched together and working through the history essay, books laying open around him, occupying most of the space on their table.

Luke and Reggie should work on their homework too (before they were thrown out for just mingling around and distracting others), but they hoped they could bribe Alex to help them write the main part for them. He always said next time he wouldn’t help their lazy asses out, but then went and did it anyway. They shouldn’t rely on him, but he was so much better than them, why not take advantage of that? One way or another they have to pass the year, _and wouldn’t it be sad if we wouldn’t be in the same year anymore, Alex?_

It was with no doubt mean to exploit Alex’s kind and helping nature like that, but if he would really mind the extra work, he would’ve ditched them a long time ago. Knowing from the start when he met the chaos couple, back when they were only friends, what it would entail to befriend them.

So Reggie made no move to get the quill in his hands and read over the assignment, instead caressing the skin on Luke’s hands, drawing shapes and playing with the rings, laying against Luke’s chest with his feet propped on the bench, completely relaxed after the day he had. The noises around him made for a perfect melody to drift off to and let his mind wander.

Distracted like that, away in his own world, Reggie didn’t notice at first the hand coming up to his cheek, brushing over the skin before leaving a chaste kiss there. But the feeling of Luke’s lips against him pulled him back to reality when the feeling lingered and the place kept tingling even after Luke pulled back. Twisting his head more to get a look at his boyfriend watching him already with interest, Reggie could see Luke’s eyes twinkling with mischief which was quite alarming.

He could melt at the sight every time when the smile was aimed at him shining so bright, he couldn’t help but lift the corners of his mouth too until there was a tentative shy grin. Luke swore up and down he looked so cute like this and would try to coax the smile out of him, but Reggie would hide his face in his shoulder and avert the attention away from him.

Reggie was still hung up on older pictures of him with his braces showing he had needed for his uneven teeth (or as Luke called them endearingly: crooked teeth). It was just an insecurity of him he wasn’t able to shake off, no matter how often Luke assured him he looked great and had the most beautiful smile the world had ever seen.

But when Luke beamed at him like the sun on a warm day, Reggie couldn’t help himself. His gaze wandered over to Luke’s lips that were still pulled up and Reggie wondered what had made Luke so happy.

“Is there something on my face?” He asked in case Luke was making fun of him inside and wasn’t saying anything. Perhaps he looked stupid right now, with gum sticking on the side of his cheek or something.

“Just a small blush.” Luke replied and poked at the tip of his nose with a fingertip. “It’s cute.”

Luke shouldn’t have said that. Reggie was always getting mushy when Luke called him that. Luke promised him to call him cute until Reggie would believe it himself and he announced it with such conviction Reggie was sure it wouldn’t need much time. But to this day he didn’t get used to Luke calling him cute, or sweet, or lovely, or _honey._

It was really getting a problem when his blush would deepen drastically at these words. He felt embarrassed to show such a reaction to such a simple word. When he was complimenting Luke, he would just let out an _aww_ and kiss him sweetly. Why couldn’t Reggie contain himself?

In an attempt to hide his crimson blush covering his nose and cheek, concealing his freckles, he turned back around and snuggled deeper into Luke’s chest but forgot that Alex was still sitting next to him and Reggie was on full display for him.

Alex had heard the soft-spoken words and noticed the blotchy skin of Reggie, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at him. _Sure, but he was the disaster gay out of all of them. Reggie was way worse than him. Hopeless,_ he sighed internally. 

Noticing he was being caught, Reggie tried to hide his face in his hands, taking a deep breath in an attempt to compose himself but forgot a little detail of himself and whipped his head around in confusion when Luke started giggling all of a sudden.

“What’s so funny?” Reggie asked, hoping there was still no gum glued to his face and the others were not laughing at him.

Luke carded a hand through Reggie’s hair, rearranging his fringe “Your hair is turning rosy.”

And, yeah, Reggie always forgot he would do that. Or that his hair would do that. Showcasing his emotion unwillingly to the world without him noticing. Reggie, ashamed now, let out a whine and let his head fall against Luke’s collarbone, now there was no way he could hide that. He should’ve brought his beanie with him.

Luke, knowing what Reggie was thinking with years of learning behind him, kissed the top of his hair, and hugged him from behind before Reggie could get up and leave him. “I love it. And I love you. With every hair colour imaginable. You’re extraordinary and that’s just the way I like you.”

Reggie groaned at the love declaration but made no move to conceal the coloured strands of hair, lying limply in Luke’s arms and putting his hands over Luke’s. He had still to accept that Luke was loving him unconditionally and didn’t leave him when he had learned of Reggie’s ‘talent’.

“Great Luke, now his hair is getting pink and he looks like a flamingo.” Alex said; however he knew that from his focused look on the words on his parchment.

“Hey, he matches your hoodie, you’re colour brothers now.”

“That’s not…okay.”

**two.**

Reggie was slumped down on a stone-cold bench near the lake where the giant squid showed one of his purple arms now and then. To his eye it almost looked like it was waving him but that was probably just his imagination. It was impossible for the huge creature to show such a small human gesture. Besides, why should it do that, Reggie was a stranger, just visiting on the bench from time to time to clear his head.

He wasn’t like Alex who needed to move around in order to sort his thoughts and minimize the anxious energy that was crawling under his skin. Reggie needed some quiet and time to run through all corners of his mind, sweeping the dust and all unwelcome thoughts out. 

It had been cloudy all day and the air was crisp, but he had half a mind to slip into his cloak before he left the common room and all conversations behind him, and wandered all the way along the shady forest to the lake.

The almost smooth surface of the water seemed even more dark today with the sun missing that would create glistening reflections on the waves in the light. It was almost as black as his hair, not giving away the depth, but with a squid inhabiting the lake, it must be pretty deep. Reggie was too afraid to go swimming in there, but sitting at the shore, the water almost lapping at his feet, it was calming.

The deep forest around him swallowed any animal noises, just some extra hard trying birds could get their chirping out of the words to his ears. But other than him no one would hear the beautiful melodies.

The nearly silence enveloped him, just what he was searching for. His mind didn’t allow him one pause today since he had woken up and checked the date on the calendar hanging on the door to their dormitory. From then on, they all swirled around one subject and Reggie had been sick of it, needing an outlet quickly or he would burst, so he found himself sitting here.

It was helping at least a little bit and that was better than nothing. He could admire the nature around him to give his mind something else to work on and ponder over big creatures and their ability to pick up human behaviour. His shoulders weren’t as tense as before and he stopped nibbling at his fingers, revolving to fiddling with his sleeves instead, which was better than picking his skin raw. The others always tried to stop him from doing that but to no avail yet.

Not long after, his ears picked up steps behind him, but it wasn’t in him to turn around and greet the new person. He assumed he would be left alone for today. But he didn’t have to when the person sat down next to him, giving him some space.

Letting his eyes wander to the side he could make out blue border on a black cloak and hands hiding in the pockets to protect against the cold air. Lifting his eyes blond hair came to light. Alex.

“Hey.” Alex said when Reggie’s full attention was on him. He kept his voice light to not disrupt the pleasant silence around them. He didn’t want to intrude, just look out for a friend.

“Hi.” Reggie replied once he found his voice, not having spoken once today, skipping breakfast to avoid any people that might want to start a conversation with him. He really wasn’t in the mood. The corners of his mouth were being dragged down by an invisible force and he knew his friends would’ve asked him questions he wanted to avoid answering.

“We missed you at the table today. You hungry?” Pulling a hand out of one of the pockets, Alex questioningly held a napkin out that was filled with something. Some food from breakfast if Reggie would have to guess. 

The gesture was lovely, but Reggie’s stomach was revolting at the thought of food and eating. So he shook his head and averted his gaze before the feeling of queasiness could spread further.

“Okay.” Burying the napkin in his pocket again Alex continued to talk but he wasn’t outright looking at him, just stealing a glance once in a while. “But if you change your mind, I don’t mind sharing. The cookies were phenomenal today just so you know. Luke ate like ten and I’m sure he will get sick later at training and then Julie would fuss over him while simultaneously scolding him for eating too much sugar. You should come with me later to watch the spectacle. I bet 10 Sickles on Julie forcing him to eat some salad at lunch and Luke will pull off a disgusted face. Sometimes I wonder how he managed to reach his age, that shit can’t be healthy.”

Reggie was aware of Alex tactic to cheer him up. Just like Reggie rambled on and on about random things when he was stressed or irritated and kept quit when he was sad, Alex kept talking when he was comfortable in a situation and clamped up when anxious. They completed each other like this.

And Alex knew that some background mumbling was just the right thing for Reggie now, even if Reggie himself couldn’t tell him that, reduced to nodding and shaking his head at the story being told.

To his surprise a small smile crept up on his face when Alex retold the story of their impromptu camping trip back at home when they were all visiting Luke and it had ended in a disaster, which it usually did when they all came together and skipped any plan and just _did_ the thing. All ability to think ahead was thrown out the window when the three of them were unsupervised, and Julie wasn’t able to come at the time. Result: A catastrophic camping experience, but a hilarious funny story to be passed on.

Alex mirrored his smile. “There you are. You had me really worried for a second.” Finally closing the gap between them Alex inched closer and threw an arm around him, pulling him against Alex’s side and rubbing his arm to warm him up after the time he had sat out here with the cold seeping through his clothes.

Reggie looked up to meet Alex’s gaze but instantly dropped his head again to watch the ground and the waves which regularly washed up leaves and twigs. That was way more interesting than searching for words and say anything to reassure Alex he was okay. If asked he would say he was great. He really was, okay?

But Alex didn’t let him off the hook that easily. He was convinced the only solution to overcome any problem was talking about it and he would get any of them to talk. Him and Julie knew exactly how to get Luke and Reggie to open up and explain their feelings so even they could understand them.

“Luke told me to find you. He would’ve come himself but as you know he has training and he’s sorry he couldn’t ditch; he would’ve rather been here than at practice.”

Reggie furrowed his eyebrows, his mood dropping even lower if that was possibly. He hated it when people were worried over him and he hated it even more when people knew he was upset. “He doesn’t need to be sorry, I’m okay.” Just telling the truth, he was okay. Just a bad day. A totally normal thing.

“Reg, I know you don’t like it, but if you could see your hair right now you would understand why I’m worried. It’s almost the same shade as the water, just bluer. It was darker when I came here but there are streaks of light blue in there now, so I hope you’re better. I know you’re sad Reg, you don’t have to deny it. Even if I couldn’t read your emotion off your hair you can always tell me what’s going on, I really don’t mind, I’ll always be listening to you. I hope you know that.”

Reggie should really invest in a hat collection, but on the other hand a weight was lifted off him. If Alex knew about him, he didn’t need to pretend any longer. He was uncomfortable with showing his misery and any negative emotion in general, but he was getting better at it and he knew he could trust Alex, it was just so hard to find the right words and explain, and why couldn’t he just be happy? It was his role in their friend group after all. Being the happy one.

But right now, there was a big emptiness inside of him, ready to be washed out with tears that were gathering in the corners of his eyes and soon he couldn’t see the trees around him, only blurred colours mixing together like an impressionistic painting.

“Oh Reggie, come here.” Pulling Reggie against his chest, Alex held Reggie’s head under his chin and combed a hand through his hair to soothe him. The other arm was snaked strongly around his back and held him close, giving Reggie all the comfort he needed and waiting for the tears to ebb up.

Before he could stop rubbing his back, he heard muttering against his cloak, straining his ears to make out the words being spoken.

“Puffpuff died this day last year. I miss him so much Alex. I want him to be here and I want to cuddle him, and I even miss his cold wet nose that he would nudge me with in the middle of the night. Or when he would lay down on me and I couldn’t get up, but I didn’t want to either way. I just- it hurts so much. Why does it still hurt so much?”

Reggie had his hands twisted in Alex’s cloak and Alex had the feeling he wouldn’t let loose soon so he held him even closer and hoped it worked to calm him down, already feeling some tears on his own falling down his face.

“It’s okay Reg. It’s okay to be sad over this. Of course you miss him, Puffpuff was a great dog. It just shows how much you loved him that you’re thinking about him even one year after he’s gone. He’s out there somewhere and misses you too and one day you’ll see each other again and he will be happy that you remembered him.”

Reggie nodded slowly, showing Alex he had been listening to his consoling words, no matter how hard it was to hear this and go through the hurt. But he was okay enough now to lift his head and envelop Alex in a real hug instead of crying into his chest before they pulled apart, Alex still an arm over his shoulder.

“Now come on, let’s get some Azur in your hair, Navy isn’t suiting you.” While Alex said that he tousled Reggie’s hair to make some strands stand up. It looked a bit ridiculous, but the colour already added to the crazy look and Reggie couldn’t complain as long as he didn’t catch his reflection in a mirror.

Reggie let out a bemused huff of air. “Are you taking an art course to learn about all the fancy names for colours?”

“Don’t distract from the subject at hand, Reggie!” Alex retorted but then continued with a softer voice, “But yeah, I might have done some research, it’s really interesting.”

**three.**

Quidditch training might be Luke’s favourite class. Or no, it definitely is. Not being tied to a chair while a boring teacher was romping about this and that, so much useless stuff. But on a broom, he was free to do what he wanted. Well, he still needed to listen to their teacher, but he could squeeze in some extra loopings, which was way more fun than throwing paper balls at other students.

Reggie was equally having fun, just happy to get out of the castle with the many ghost and students whirling around him. Following closely behind Luke and attempting Luke’s stunts but failing miserably he couldn’t compete against a professional but enjoying the class nevertheless and foremost the freedom of flying through the air and not having so sit in a dusty, stuffy classroom.

Alex was straight up not having a good time. Brooms were violating every safety measure imaginable. What if he flew too high and couldn’t breathe anymore, or what if he would fall and the teacher wouldn’t see, and he would collide with the ground and boom death. And being detained as a ghost in Hogwarts? No thank you very much. He wasn’t keen on meeting all the other dead people and learn about their causes of death. It was his most hated class, hell even history of muggles was better yet more boring. But better be bored than dead.

His knees were wobbly just standing next to the broom on the ground, his hand already shaking before he could command his broom. Like a first grader his voice was too shaky, and the broom collided with his face before falling back to the ground, rolling away from him as if Alex had been rude too it, bringing up the question if brooms could sulk. Great, not even the broom wanted him. A fucking broom! The audacity. And now his face was hurting, with his nose not even broken so he could get away to the nurse. It was still expected from him to participate.

Some students had seen his accident and were snickering among themselves with a hand before their mouth to hide the smiles, but Alex could see it all and embarrassment crept up to his face, leaving a faint blush.

One guy among the group wasn’t so shy and spoke up so everyone around them could hear it too. Their teacher was a length away to help some girl and Alex felt uneasy right away.

“Hey, Alex!” The guy called out to him to make sure he was really listening. “Nice stunt. Can I ask you a question?” Without awaiting an answer, he kept talking. “What are you even doing here when you can’t do the easiest shit? That’s really embarrassing if you ask me. I bet you crap your pants at a quidditch game even just sitting in the stands. Do you need to hold mommy’s hand, we could send an owl for the next game? Or maybe we can get one of the girls to comfort you. Oh wait I forgot, you’re into dudes.” His following laugh revealed his statement to be an insult rather than a simple observation.

Not that Alex was ashamed of that side of him, but it hurt nevertheless to hear that coming from another student, who was caught up with his bigoted mindset even at a place where magic existed. Why couldn’t he wrap his mind around boys being into boys? Alex didn’t even know that dude that well why was he talking to him that way?

Deciding to ignore the call out was the best way to solve the situation, he averted his gaze with an annoyed expression, searching for his broom to resume the task of getting on it. Luke was already up in the air, unaware of Alex’s debacle, always the first to take off.

Reggie though had heard every word and his hands were balled into fists on his side, a cold expression on his face, displacing the usual cheerful grin. This was not good, that much was clear, Alex knew from the get-go, familiar with the warning signs of a spiralling Reggie. It was rare to spot them on Reggie but from then on, it’s a fast way to an angry Reggie.

Alex laid a comforting hand on Reggie’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Reggie. They’re idiots, ignore them.”

Reggie looked up at him with confusion in his eyes and eyebrows pulled up. “Why are you comforting _me_? They attacked _you_ , why are you so calm?”

The guy was following the scene with interest and was clearly not finished yet. “If you’re looking for back up that freak there won’t help you. I mean look at him, he looks so stupid like this. Is everyone in your group _special_?” The last word was spit out with venom and the intent behind it was to further embarrass Reggie.

True to his words Alex could see Reggie’s hair gaining a new colour. The sleek black was fading, making room for some Scarlet, spreading slowly from his scalp to his tips the longer the guy rambled on about Alex’s flaws and ending his speech with Reggie being a weirdo.

Reggie wasn’t that affected from the words being spoken about him, he had heard it all often enough and had gotten more speeches than he could count from his friends saying that he was _not_ a freak to know the guy was just saying random garbage to rile him up. But attacking his friends, that was a no go. It was the one thing that got him truly angry. Reggie was an easy-going person, always happy to make someone’s day better, but when needed he could get absolutely feral. And he would fight dirty if nobody held him back, using every advantage he could get.

Alex sensed Reggie’s mood changing from bothered to outraged and seeing as the colour changed to a fiery red, he tried to grab one of Reggie’s arms to keep him on the spot, but it was too late. Oh, that guy was in deep shit.

Pulling out his wand Reggie only needed three big strides and he stood in front of the guy that couldn’t control his mouth, holding his wand under the boy’s chin, lifting his head up with it and looking him straight in the eye. A calmness settled on Reggie’s face and for the first time the guy was starting to feel uncertain about the progression of the event. His hold of power about the situation was seemingly disappearing.

But Reggie’ intention wasn’t only intimidating the guy with a stare down; he had a lot on his mind that the guy needed to hear. “Wanna say this again to my face, huh? Are your insecurities this big that you need to put down others? Do you feel better now? Or are you just jealous because your hair looks like a blonde was dragged through the dirt? Were you often pushed in the dirt as a child? Is that why you’re so butthurt over some colour on me? Or why you need to make fun of my friend? Maybe your mummy didn’t pay enough attention to you and now you need to draw it to you in every possible moment. But my best guess is that you just have a small d-“

A hand found his way to his shoulder and suddenly Reggie was janked back and dragged away, the hand with his wand in it falling to his side before he could make use of it, sadly, he already had good spell in mind. Getting his feet to work properly he turned sideways and found Alex holding on to him.

“Alex, what are you doing? Let me go, I wasn’t finished yet.” Reggie could still feel the anger flowing through his veins and pulsing in his ears, the adrenaline high from speaking up to a bully and now he was angry at Alex for depriving him of the chance to expose the guy to the whole class like he deserved.

Alex though was not a fan of that plan and continued to drag Reggie away from the open field where they practiced until they stood under a passageway to another courtyard. “Oh, you were definitely finished. Whatever you wanted to say next would’ve gotten you detention. While you were busy spitting accusations you couldn’t see that the teacher was on his way back, I was just helping you. And now calm down.”

“But- but Alex,” Reggie began to sputter out. “That guy needed to be put into place. You heard what he said, that wasn’t okay.”

Alex sighed but let his hand linger on Reggie’s shoulder. “I know Reggie. What he did was more than just being mean, but for you to fall down on his level of ignorance is just his intention. We’re better than that. Ignore him and he won’t have any fun in calling us names anymore. You know the drill.”

Seeing as the colour retreated and was now only a pastel orange and Reggie’s breathing slowing down, Alex let go of him, sure that Reggie wouldn’t ran off to complete his plan of action.

Reggie nibbled on his lower lip and his gaze was directed to the cobblestone underneath them, suddenly ashamed with his spontaneous need to hurt another human being. That’s so unlike him, but in that moment, he couldn’t hold back and was only seeing red. Much like his hair, the emotions had just overcome him and now after the strong hate and dislike for the other student was fading, he could understand why Alex pulled him out of the situation.

“Thanks, Alex. And I’m sorry. Will not happen again, I promise.”

“You don’t have to promise me. Come here, I don’t like seeing you so upset.” Opening his arms wide, Alex invited Reggie in for a much-needed hug on both sides, interchanging the negative feelings for something more positive. Holding on to Reggie until his hair was entirely black again and then joining Luke after Alex was finally able to call back his broom.

**four.**

The three boys and Julie lingered around in an empty classroom full of old books and dust and rolls of parchment while the hallway on the other side of the door was completely silent, vacant of any other students. The room looked so boring they had hope that not even a ghost would phase through a wall and interrupt their meeting. Well not really a meeting, more a get together with an important topic to discuss.

It was right after breakfast at Saturday that they left each other for their respective common rooms and met up a few minutes later in the agreed room. It was hard to find a meeting spot with four people from different houses. It has gotten colder outside too so they had to find a place inside the castle and a common room was out of question, so they needed to get creative and went exploring.

They could’ve met in the study hall or the library, but it was better for them to be out of earshot for what they were about to discuss. Away from teachers and for any student that might snitch on them.

It was the weekend every student anticipated. Today was the trip to Hogsmeade, a chance to get out of the castle, look at truly incredible cool wizard stuff and buy some trinkets and just enjoy some butter beer while out and about with friends who were in big need of some outlet for their energy or Julie would get crazy one of these days.

The four of them had been on every trip together (only one time when Luke found it funny to experiment in potion class and ended up in the hospital wing) and today should be no exception, the excitement building up over the last days and today was finally the day.

There was only one problem. A little itty-bitty problem the boys forgot to mention to Julie until yesterday that had left her frustrated with her friends. None of them hat the signature for the permission letter. And without it they wouldn’t be able to go. No signature, no trip.

Reggie showed the slip to his parents, but they never got around to sign it and when Reggie had to leave for the train, he wasn’t keen on asking for fear of parting with his parents in an argument. Alex didn’t dare to ask in the first place, not after what had happened last summers, he was sure his parents wouldn’t have signed it either way. Emily deliberately didn’t sign when Luke gave her the paper, she wanted to know Luke in the castle away from any unnecessary distractions so he would for once focus on his studies.

Julie was the only one with a signed slip from her dad, but alone without her boys the trip wouldn’t be any fun. So they needed a plan how to get into the group of students cleared to go without raising suspicion.

Alex was absentmindedly staring out the window to watch some birds soaring through the air after he had given up coming up with a plan, his brain was empty except for his homework schedule and that wasn’t helping him now. Suddenly he felt a tingling sensation on his skin, which could only mean involuntary attention was on him, and he whipped his head around, back to his friends.

All three of them were expectantly looking at Alex who was growing suspicious of the numerous pairs of eyes on him, an uneasy feeling rising up in him. “What?” He asked after none of them spoke up.

“Well….” Reggie drew the word out. “You may know that you’re the best wizard out of all of us.”

“Otherwise you wouldn’t be in Ravenclaw.” Luke chimed in, gaining him a smack from Julie for interrupting.

“Yes.” Reggie cleared his throat. “As Luke was so nice to clarify, you’re great with spells and we thought that you could forge all our parent’s signatures.”

Alex’s eyes grew comically wide. “What? You want me – what? Are you for real guys? No no no no. There is no way I would do that. Did you even think of the consequences when you were coming up with that plan? Which is ridiculous by the way.”

Julie’s gaze was softer than the boys when she looked at Alex. She was the only one who could change Alex’s mind and she knew it and tried to be extra understanding and careful. “There won’t be any consequences. Mrs. Harrison never looks closely at the paper, she doesn’t care how faked the signature is. She’s beyond glad if she can get all the students out of the castle so she and the other teachers can drink a chocolate around the fire and gossip about us.”

“I’m not sure how to feel about the gossiping part.” Alex’s discomfort growing even bigger at the words and his voice going up. 

Luke let out a small laugh, amused at Alex unawareness. “Really Alex? That’s what you’re concerned about? Teachers talking about us? Of course they are.”

“Yeah you remember when Mr. Turner seated Olly and Lisa next to each other? A few weeks later and they were a couple. Teachers know what they’re doing.” Reggie dived deeper into the topic, remembering the affair like it was yesterday.

Julie in the meanwhile shook her head at the ridiculous boys sitting next to her. Trying to get back on track she pleaded, “Okay, okay we’re digressing. Alex, would you please do that for us? It’s so boring here, you want to get out of here too, I know that.”

Alex’s defensive stance was crumbling, and he wasn’t liking it a bit. Julie was telling the truth; he so wanted a day out. Away from the books and schoolwork and expectations. But using magic to commit a crime? Was it worthy to commit to that just for a field trip with his friends?

Hell yeah it was, a little bit exhilarating to do something illegal and when he out of nowhere agreed to the plan the other were taken by surprise but cheered when Alex pulled out his wand, gathering the papers on the table before him.

Examining the black ink proudly, Alex had to admit it looked very real and not fake at all. Three different kinds of handwriting were written on the three papers and with a quick look it didn’t reveal to be forged. Trying to supress the anxious energy that was crawling his way back up in him as the important moment neared, he followed his friends out to the courtyard. A bigger group of students was already gathered there, waiting for the go.

The group of four made their way over to Mrs. Harrison standing near the entrance to the castle where she no doubt will vanish through once her duties here are over.

Pray to god, this will work, Alex thought. Or else his parents would no doubt send a howler. Oh god, the embarrassment that would follow.

They had decided to let Julie go first. Mrs. Harrison was always charmed by her and would let her guard down with Julie talking her up. And then the boys could quickly show they slips with the teacher partly distracted.

“If that isn’t my favourite group of troublemakers.” Mrs. Harrison said once she spotted them. “And Julie.” She added. As commented, she liked Julie much. But who doesn’t?

“Hello Mrs. Harrison.” Julie started with a greeting, working out a topic in her head to pull Mrs. Harrison in.

It was working quite well, and the boys were impressed with Julie’s talent to come up with it on the spot. They walked nearer and fumbled with their permission slip, holding it all up simultaneously and letting them fall into their pockets when Mrs. Harrison’s gaze wandered back to Julie.

But suddenly she seemed to remember something and addressed Luke, who was taken completely by surprise.

“Luke, didn’t your mum explicitly stated she didn’t want you away from Hogwarts grounds?”

Luke was sputtering while thinking hard of what to say. “Uh, well – I – you see – my latest tests were better and I send her an owl asking if she would change her mind, regarding my better grades and she approved and send me the permission back as a kind of reward. Isn’t she nice?” Luke finished off with his characteristic I – can – get – everything – I – want smile no one could resist.

Mrs. Harrison eyed him for a while longer, but the lie must’ve been convincing enough. “Alright, that’s very nice of her indeed. And congratulation on finally finding out what a book is Luke.”

The others let out their breaths they had been holding the whole interaction long while Luke internally cursed. (He knew what a book was, okay? He just didn’t like reading them.)

Thinking they had been through it they all turned around to join back where the rest of the students hang around but then Mrs. Harrison spoke up again and all of them were groaning internally. “Reggie could you come back a minute, please? There’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”

Giving his friends one last frightened look Reggie walked back and Alex, Luke, and Julie stood off to the side, concerned. It was well known amongst them that Reggie wasn’t the best liar. Undeniably the worst one out of the group. Even Alex was better, and he was avoiding lying to anyone because it made him feel bad.

But Reggie started sweating when he was questioned and fell back to his nervous habit of rubbing over the house patch on his clothes, stuttering, and what he came up with wasn’t convincing in the slightest. But the worst was when Reggie’s hair gave him away. When a particular bad lie was in need and Reggie knew he was deep in shit his hair decided to adopt a greenish colour. In the dark it wouldn’t be noticeable but here outside under the little rays of sun Mrs. Harrison would spot it right away.

Nervously they glanced in Reggie’s direction without being too suspicious. They could see them talking but weren’t able to make out about what. But they could see the slight flush on Reggie’s cheek, he was notably uncomfortable. And then the hand came up on his cloak. Oh god, the whole mission will fail.

“Thank god Reggie remembered to wear his beanie today, bless the cold English weather for once.” Alex pointed out and the others were relived. One thing less to worry about. But there were still a few strands of hair sticking out under the hat and with Reggie getting gradually more nervous even the tips of his hair would turn green.

A tense laugh reached their ears and they could see Reggie messing with his beanie, trying to inconspicuously stuff his remaining hair under the fabric.

After a few more minutes filled with fear of getting caught Alex and Luke each got an arm thrown over their shoulder with Reggie standing in between them, a beaming grin on his face and his beanie pulled down deep onto his face.

“I’m supposed to pass on from Mrs. Harrison that we ought not to drink too much butter bear and have fun.”

Luke couldn’t help himself and planted a kiss right there on Reggie’s lips with his hands on either side of Reggie’s face, overcome with glee. They did it!

Pulling back, he scanned Reggie’s face, taking in the slight crimson on Reggie’s nose and cheeks, bringing one hand up to push the last strand of hair under the beanie. “You forgot that one. But I have to say green suits you too. You always look so good Reg.” With a last kiss to his nose Luke let go of him.

Luckily, Reggie thought, he had a mind to grab his beanie, otherwise he was sure there would be pink joining the green and the last thing he wanted was to give Luke the satisfaction of knowing how fast he could get Reggie to a state like this. “Yeah – uhm – just – let’s go guys. “

**five.**

Reggie was beside himself with joy. He couldn’t recall when he started smiling but the corners of his mouth were starting to hurt from the constant strain of the muscles. But Reggie couldn’t stop. The happiness was flowing through him and he had to will himself to stay sitting on his chair even though there was nothing more he wanted to do than jump up and dance through the hall with his arms in the air and do little twirls.

Except for the teacher speaking it was almost silent in the hall, just a few whispers here and there between students but if Reggie were to laugh out loud now everyone would look at him like he was crazy. More than usual anyways.

Just a few more minutes then he could join his friends in celebration. He could do that.

Huffing out a bit of air to let some energy out he tried to focus on the speech, but his eyes wandered over to Luke, and Alex, and Julie scattered around the tables, but it was easy to spot them. Luke had the same grin as him even though for a different reason. Julie looked more pleased or content, and Alex spotted a small proudly looking smile, rare to see on him, always doubting himself.

Finally, the teachers allowed them to stand up and leave the hall. Outside it was harder to find his friends and reunite in a closed group in the corner but he managed to spot a mop of tousled brown hair over the crowd of students. Before anything was said the four of them pulled in tight for a group hug, jumping on their places and cheering before letting loose.

“We did it guys, we are finally free! I passed the exams! Oh my god my mum can never ever again berate me for my grades.” Of course, Luke’s first thought was to be relieved to get out of school. It never had been his favourite place, spending most of the time on the quidditch field instead of the library.

Alex held his parchment near his body, almost hugging it but careful to not get any wrinkles in it, after all it would end up framed on the wall of his room where he could look at it whenever he wanted to and be proud of himself for his achievements.

“Alex actually managed to be better than me.” Julie said impressed. “One ‘Outstanding’ more but it’s okay, you worked your butt off, you deserve this Alex.”

Alex threw her a grateful smile. They were all aware of how much Alex worked for his grades, always his nose in a book and one eye on his parchment and it definitely payed off.

“What about you Reggie?” Julie asked him then, curious of the report card.

And, oh yeah, while he was busy congratulating his friends, he forgot for a moment why he had been so happy in there in the first place. Holding up his UTZ grades, he announced, “All ‘Exceeds Expectation’ and ‘Acceptable’.”

Not once did Reggie believe he would do so good. Sure, his work moral had been better than Luke’s but nowhere near Julie’s or Alex’s. They were always willing to help him though and now he was glad that it was worth it to give up some quite evenings around the fireplace for working on an essay.

A body threw himself on him and Reggie stumbled a few steps backwards, then he could feel kisses peppered all over his face. “I’m.so.proud.of.you.babe.” Luke said with a kiss after each word before Reggie could get him off him. Once accomplished both of them were just hugging but Luke was still murmuring sweet words in his ear and Reggie felt himself coming close to crying, which he had planned to avoid, there was enough time for it when they all departed for a few weeks.

They all graduated, with more or lesser good grades and now they were finished with school, and the unknown lay before them. No dictated daily schedule anymore. They were able to do what they wanted, and it was a bit scary. Having to find out what that was and who they were. But with Luke at his one side and Alex and Julie on the other the fear wasn’t as strong. He wasn’t alone and once more he was grateful for the people he had found here.

The emotions ran high today, and Reggie couldn’t pinpoint what exactly he was feeling right now.

There was so much happening. Tomorrow their parents would all come and then it was time for packing and go home, and then they would all look for a place for them because finally they could live together, not restricted anymore by being placed in different houses, maybe Reggie could finally look for a dog he wanted so much all his live. So many endless possibilities it was almost overwhelming.

“Oh my god Reggie.” Luke spoke up with amazement in his voice and Reggie got curious over what had entranced Luke that much. “You look so beautiful.” When Luke carded his hand through Reggie’s hair, he could guess what it was.

“What does it look like?” He asked, unable to look for himself. It must be a new colour or else Luke wouldn’t be so astonished and as Reggie was feeling so much at once he wasn’t sure what it could be.

“It’s a whole rainbow up there.” Alex replied, his eyes also transfixed on him.

“Really?” Reggie asked and touched his hair even though it didn’t bring him much, but he had to see for himself. Because rainbow actually sounded cool.

And when they all piled into a bathroom, isolated from the part of the castle with the rest of the students, Reggie could admire himself in the mirror, raking his hands through his hair, finding more colours than he had ever seen on his head and for the first time he thought with confidence that he looked _pretty._

**+1**

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” Alex asked from where he was sitting at the edge of the bathtub with Julie fussing over his hair.

Luke turned around after examining his new blue hair colour in the mirror for the hundredth’s time. “Because it’s fun and one can never have enough of that in one’s life. Especially you Alex. Few weeks outta school and you start learning for your college classes. I mean, come on, live your young life a little you old man.”

“But I look ridiculous!” Alex was hinting at the white grey plastic cap that was currently sitting on his head and made him look like a grandpa with a rain cap on top.

“Stop touching it.” Julie swatted his hand away while trying to pull the blond strands through the holes before she could apply the bleach.

Reggie meanwhile sat on a chair and tried to hold his laughter back from the scene playing out in front of him. His friends really were ridiculous. But to not upset Alex any further he hid his laughing behind a cough and admired his boyfriend instead. It was really unfair how good he was looking now, more than normal anyways. If he himself would pull off his coloured hair so well, he wouldn’t mind it so much but now he could stare at Luke at any time.

When Luke was complimenting the colours in Reggie’s hair whenever his emotions where strong enough to bring them forward Reggie was always grumbling and trying to avert the attention. But he had really been getting better with repressing his magical hair changes with help from Alex who trained with him and found some interesting passages in books that helped him understand how it worked. With the new information about metamorphmagus it was easier to get his hair under control so not every stranger could figure his feelings out.

Luke was more than a bit disappointed when Reggie’s training showed it effects or rather supressed unwilling effects and mourned that colour was now missing from his life. Reggie then had dared him to dye his hair and Luke who could never turn down a dare of course said yes without batting an eye.

And because it sounded like fun Julie jumped on the opportunity to pep up her look and poor Alex was dragged along for the ride, because no one was allowed to miss out on a new experience, this was a group project.

Alex had complained why they couldn’t just cast a spell and they would sport new hair immediately without any extra effort, but the rest convinced him to do it the muggle way. “Never heard of YouTube Alex? You can find tutorials for everything on there, we can make a whole girl’s day out of it.”

With only on girl present they should search for a new name, but they left it at that because who cares how their friend days are called. As long as there was enough food, and music, and romcoms the day would be amazing.

Reggie refrained from doing his hair, but Julie promised to do some make up on him later when they would watch a movie and the rest of them were finished with their colouring. Reggie had helped Luke with his hair who was constantly sneaking a hand up to scratch his had because the colour was itching his skin and Reggie had to keep watch so that Luke wouldn’t ruin it before the timer was up.

They all had worked on Julie’s hair, which was now shining in some shade of purple, because there was a lot of it and took definitely the most of time out of all of them and Alex found a spell to add some glittery effect on it and whenever light caught Julie’s hair it was sparkling like stars in the night sky. It was the most beautiful thing Reggie had ever seen and hoped Julie would keep the look for a while.

Alex wasn’t even aware what had been picked out for him and Luke had to wrestle him into the bathroom when Alex found out because, “Frosted tips?? Are you for real guys? Where are we? In the 90s? Please don’t let me look like I’m singing in boygroup, that’s such a gay cliché. How can you do this to me?”

Now he sat resigned with Julie over him and hoped he would look better than the picture on the packaging. If it turned out worse, he could turn it back with a spell, he reminded himself and that was the only reason he let Julie do whatever she was currently doing.

It was definitely a look. With Alex’s blonde hair it wasn’t that visible from afar, and he promised to let it stay for at least a few days after a bit of grumbling. His argument had been that Reggie’s colour only stayed for a few hours max, mostly one so why should he suffer?

Luke and Julie were really happy with how it turned out even though there was still a splatter of blue on Luke’s hands where he escaped Reggie’s attentive gaze and Julie was afraid she couldn’t fall asleep with her sparkling hair, but for now with them all sitting on the couch, Reggie in the middle, and after holding on to the moment with a few pictures, Reggie was sure he had the best friends on earth. Friends who were willing to help him in any way possible and when that meant to dye their hair to support him then so be it.

**Author's Note:**

> If there are any questions about things mentioned about the Harry Potter world you didn't understand you can ask me of course.
> 
> For 'five' I imagined something like [this](https://fluffygif.tumblr.com/post/189137792649/rainbow-kick) because it doesn't stick out as much which a rainbow colour will do on his own.
> 
> And for the +1 I had to google how to do frosted tips and came to [this](https://www.wikihow.com/Frost-Hair) wiko how article and the pictures made me laugh so hard when I imagined Alex in them I had to incorporate that.


End file.
